Sidetrip

The bus left without me this morning to Ragusa.

I hope they had a good day.

 

I had an unforseen tour of the local hospital with one of the team. All will be well, but I must say we went to the equivalent of A&E, were taken in straight away depsite the protestations of many locals who had been waiting, were seen to, patched up, referred on, and generally seemed to be treated with a great deal of respect as foreigners. The doctor didn't speak much english, it was a bit of a trial, but he did manage to get out the words "All Blacks". Mores the pity, as those words had remained unspoken for a week.

PS Our quick patch up job was on the house. The insurance company will love us.

 

Since I then had a few hours to spare I went to one of the Catacombs, San Giovanni

I have always wanted to go to one of these and I was very much appreciative of the opportunity.

A well layed out network 3 or 4 metres under an old greek aqueduct with its own roads, and 10 000 tombs stretched out before me. Various different types of tomb, with some family tombs for 11 people, remains of frescoes.

This is a very very old place.

You have to go on a tour, and it is worth it. 8 Euros gets you into the chruch, (what is left of it, since the roof caved in), the crypt and the catacombs, and another church a ten minute walk away which is currently home to Carravaggio's Burial of Saint Lucy.

 

Walking home through the streets, not a soul stirred. All shutters were down, barely a car went by, the only sign of life was a group of elderly men throwing a plastic bottle across the carpark for a little dog.